Do your brochures stink?
Think back and ask yourself this question: How often does your heart sink when a prospect asks your sales team to send a brochure?
Your heart sinks because you know that very few people actively read your brochure. They can be expensive and you just know that of the 10,000 printed, you'd be delighted if two-thirds got into the marketplace. Your brochures stink.
Without a doubt, brochures are often necessary because clients expect them. It's the price of entry into the conversation. There are times when brochures can be expunged from an organisation, but it must be well planned and tested before implementation. The last thing you want is your prospect list looking like a Sahara landscape.
Here's three fresh perspectives on your brochures that will help you look at them through new eyes, stop the waste and ensure they make a return on your investment.
- Experience perspective. It doesn't matter whether you are marketing a product or service, when it comes to your client making a decision, specifications are only part of the story. Clients are also interested in added features - how it will make their life easier and more profitable. In short, explain how your experience will benefit them.
Action: Design a brochure so your clients can experience your product or service. Get tactile. If your product is suitable you could attach a sample (a swatch of cloth or a piece of industrial abrasive sheet) to let them experience it first hand. If your product or service is large and not portable, think about a brochure that allows your client to see your product or service at just one step removed from 'the real thing'. Product demonstrations on DVD or an audio seminar available for download explaining the how you solve their problem help you make that vital connection with prospects and personally involve them.
- Target perspective. Never ... ever ... forget who you are talking to. It seems obvious, but it's easy to forget that your prospects don't know all the stuff you do about your product or service. Assume nothing. Don't get caught up in designing communications that will win the designer an award or that you'll be proud to take home to show your life partner. Awards don't count and your partner's opinions don't count either (unless they happen to be your target audience). The only opinion that counts is that of your prospect ... and that can only be measured by their response. Know exactly what you want them to do. How should they respond? This is the 'Call to Action'. Do you expect them to purchase after reading your brochure? How? Is your brochure designed to get them on the phone to talk with you? Craft your brochure accordingly accordingly.
- Client perspective. Let your existing and past clients sell your products and services. Client success stories and testimonials are powerful and they work. Look at your brochures as potential communicators of interesting (to your audience) case studies. No more 'me' perspective ... lots of you perspective.
You wouldn't invest in a piece of machinery that didn't create a return on investment. Why would you commission a brochure that doesn't work? It's all about the message. Does your brochure set you apart from your competitors? When it does, it will encourage your clients and prospects to look you from a new perspective. After that, it's up to the sales professionals.
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